A. Having considered the Director-General's Programme of Work
and Budget:

1. Endorses the Programme of Work;

2. Approves a total net appropriation of US$ 650 000 000
for the financial period 1998-99;

(a) Appropriations are voted for the following
purposes:

US$

Chapter I - General Policy and
Direction

50 359 000

Chapter II - Technical and Economic
Programmes

292 906 000

Chapter III - Development Services to
Member Nations

118 029 000

Chapter IV - Technical Cooperation
Programme

89 447 000

Chapter V - Support Services

57 496 000

Chapter VI - Common Services

41 163 000

Chapter VII - Contingencies

600 000

Total Appropriation (Net)

650 000 000

Chapter VIII - Transfer to Tax
Equalization Fund

91 780 000

Total Appropriations (Gross)

741 780 000

(b) The appropriations (gross) voted in paragraph (a)
above, shall be financed by assessments on Member
Nations, after deduction of Miscellaneous Income in the
amount of US$ 11 700 000, thus resulting in assessments
against Member Nations of US$ 730 080 000.

(c) In establishing the actual amounts of
contributions to be paid by individual Member Nations,
the assessment of each Member Nation shall be reduced by
any amount standing to its credit in the Tax Equalization
Fund provided that the credit of a Member Nation that
levies taxes on the salaries, emoluments and indemnities
received from FAO by staff members shall be reduced by
the estimated amounts of such taxes to be reimbursed to
the staff member by FAO. An estimate of US$ 2 500 000 has
been withheld for this purpose.

(d) The contributions due from Member Nations in 1998
and 1999 shall be paid in accordance with the scale
adopted by the Conference at its Twenty-ninth Session,
which contributions, after the deduction of amounts
standing to the credit of Member Nations in the Tax
Equalization Fund, result in net amounts payable
totalling US$ 640 800 000 as set out in Appendix E to
this Report.

B. Noting that the Programme of Work and Budget has been
approved with zero nominal growth;

Noting further that this budget implies the redeployment or
separation of staff members:

1. Authorizes the Director-General to spend up to US$ 12
million for the purposes of meeting redeployment and
separation costs over and above the net budgetary
appropriations approved above notwithstanding the provisions
of Financial Regulation 4.1(a);

2. Invites Members to also contribute voluntarily
additional funds for this purpose;

3. Urges all Member Nations to pay their contributions
promptly so as to reduce the burden on the accumulated
deficit.

116. The Conference endorsed the recommendation of the
Council, at its Hundred and Twelfth Session, (Rome, 2-7 June,
1997), that the mandate of the Committee on World Food Security
(CFS) be amended. In this regard, the Conference noted that
Commitment Seven of the Plan of Action adopted by the World Food
Summit in November 1996 accorded a substantial role to the CFS in
the monitoring of the Implementation of the Action Plan, and that
this should be reflected in the mandate of the CFS, as set out in
Rule XXXIII of the General Rules of the Organization. The
Conference further noted that amendments to the mandate of the
CFS were required to reflect new responsibilities falling upon
FAO as a result of the abolition of the World Food Council by the
UN General Assembly, to reflect changes in institutional
organizations in the UN system, such as the replacement of the
Committee on Food Aid Policies and Programmes by the Executive
Board of the World Food Programme, and to rationalize and
modernize the terms of reference of the CFS in line with recent
practice.